The 12th-ranked Bruins showcased plenty of effort Saturday in their 61-42 Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball victory over rival USC in front of 6,675 at Pauley Pavilion, especially from junior Jasmine Dixon, who scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds, including four of UCLA’s 19 offensive boards.

UCLA’s attitude was demonstrated on the defensive end, where nothing came easy for USC (10-4, 2-1), which had its six-game winning streak snapped after shooting 27.9 percent (12 of 43) and committing 20 turnovers, 14 coming off Bruins steals.

“When you’re playing against a team like ‘SC, it’s about having heart,” said Caldwell, echoing the theme of the pre-game talk delivered by Edney, the point guard on UCLA’s 1994-95 national championship team. “I think the team listened to him. They don’t always listen to me, but I think the team listened to him and took his message to heart.”

Playing in their first home game since a 55-53 loss to Louisiana State on Dec.28, the Bruins (13-1, 3-0) – off to their best start since 1976-77 – did respond to Caldwell’s claim that her team, “took the game for granted,” by limiting USC to 13 first-half points.

“The UCLA-USC rivalry is not just about us, it’s bigger than us. It’s for the school and for our community,” said Doreena Campbell, who scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, including the Bruins’ first eight after halftime. “We knew we had to play our hardest.”

After Jacki Gemelos’ 3-pointer tied the score at 8 with 15:06 remaining in the first half, UCLA picked up its defensive intensity, holding the Trojans scoreless for nearly 10 minutes. USC missed 11 consecutive field-goal attempts before Ashley Corral made the first of her four 3-point field goals with 5:06 left to cut the deficit to 16-11.

But the Trojans managed only a layup by Cassie Harberts the rest of the first half and connected on just one field goal in the first six minutes of the second half – a 10-footer by Harberts – to see the deficit balloon to 39-19.

“There were a lot of things in the game we didn’t get done. We had a lot of open looks in the first half and didn’t knock them down. We weren’t generating any offense,” USC coach Michael Cooper said. “When you’re shooting 27 percent and you give up 19 offensive rebounds, you’re not going to win many games.”

Cooper and Corral insisted it wasn’t UCLA’s defense that caused the Trojans’ inefficiency and inconsistency on offense.

But Corral, who hit two late 3-pointers to cut into the Bruins’ 25-point lead, was the only USC player in double figures with 14 points. The rest of the team shot 7-for-34, including Briana Gilbreath – the Trojans’ second-highest scorer with nine points – missing all 12 field-goal attempts.

“We knew what they were going to do, we just didn’t show up,” Corral said. “The coaches prepared us all week for this crazy, intense defense that was in your face all the time, but it didn’t seem that way. We definitely beat ourselves.”

But Caldwell, who improved to 19-0 when the Bruins held their opponents below 50 points, knew it was UCLA’s defensive versatility that was crucial in slowing down USC, which entered the contest averaging 71.2 points per game.

“I thought we mixed it up well. We may not have brought the trap every time, but there were a number of times where we had them rushing with the shot clock winding down and that plays into our favor as well,” Caldwell said. “Our defensive package is not just about trapping. We gave them a lot of different looks.”

And USC had just as much trouble slowing down UCLA as it did adjusting to the Bruins’ defenses.

Despite UCLA shooting only 37.3 percent (25-for-67), the Bruins dominated with 30 points in the paint to USC’s eight and recorded 19 second-chance points to the Trojans’ five, many of those baskets belonging to former Long Beach Poly standout Dixon, who shot 9-for-11 from the field.

“Of course that (LSU) game was on my mind since it was our first time being back at home, but when you face adversity, you have to shake it off and step up,” Dixon said. “We brushed off that LSU loss and came back (Saturday) and focused on USC.”

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